Of Shopping Carts and Wet Floor Signs
by KitterValt
Summary: During their monthly shopping trip, a very salty Tom challenges Tord to a race to avoid splitting the bill with Matt. Hijinks and confused feelings ensue.


"Ready?" Edd smirked at Tom, gripping his shopping cart tightly.

"Set." Tom grinned back at him, holding tightly to his own, Tord glanced at Matt and mouthed 'you're going down." A store employee approached them.

"Excuse me sirs could you please not-"

"GO!" All four young men shouted, charging off into different directions, Tom had Matt sitting in his cart while Edd had Tord, it was a race for shopping. The poor employee hung his head, his coworker came up and pat his shoulder.

"It's okay Frank, this always happens, every second Tuesday of the month, you get used to it."

Tom dashed down the toiletries aisle, grabbing a shopping list from the pocket of his pullover. "Alright, Matt! We need 3 packages of toilet paper! and two paper towel packages!"

Matt reached his arm out to grab and shove them in the basket in front of him. "Got them!" And it was off to the next aisle. Tom and Matt were hardly the perfect team. Tom didn't trust Matt with the list and even though he was directing him, Matt still found a way to load useless junk that they didn't need into the cart, causing Tom to have to dash back to the aisles he got them from so they could be returned.  
Whenever Edd and Tom passed each other, they exchanged looks, be it a smug, bragging smirk or a dirty look. It was an absolute miracle that the boys were able to control the shopping carts, not commonly known for their quick maneuvering and stopping on a dime before crashing into the pregnant woman in aisle 4b ability.

"Okay Tord where to next?" Edd and Tord were like an old but well oiled machine. Tord had the list, directing Edd to the aisles where he would just grab what they needed and it was off to the next asile, but Edd's speed left much to be desired. Tord blamed his cola addiction.  
"Zombie off!" Tord declared after loading glass cleaner in. "aisle 15a!"

When Edd and Tom's phone alarms went of, the two of them skidded to a halt and took a good look at their haul. Tom smirked in satisfaction, despite Matt's grabby hands they had managed to get most of the stuff on the list. Edd nodded in satisfaction at his own cart, taking the list from Tord to look at the checklist, a little over half of the list was in the cart. The two of them made their way to the registers acting like a pair of civilised men with two overgrown children, as if they hadn't been dashing all around the store with two other young men in their carts, clumsily loading items in and leaving dropped items for the poor staff to clean up.

At the registers, Matt and Tord hopped out of the carts and Tord inspected Tom's cart while Tom inspected Edd's. Tord sighed in irritation and mumbled about how they got more than he and Edd did, Tom grinned and shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket.

"Looks like Matt and I win Edd, you and Tord have to pay up for the groceries." He shrugged, looking smug and Edd pouted at him while Matt began giving himself and Tom little winner fanfare. That is, until-

"Wait!" Tord exclaimed with a devious tone, "what's all this?" He stepped aside to reaveal a mountain of junk under the proper shopping, and for each bit of junk was a point deducted from the shopping pile, a rule set in place that was meant to hopefully keep Matt's grabby hands in the cart unless it was for what they needed. At least he didn't stop at every mirror anymore when it was his turn to drive the cart.

Tom's head snapped to Matt, who had shrunk a few feet during the time Tord was pulling out the junk he'd grabbed. If looks could kill, Matt would have been whipped, flogged, put on the rack, had his back legs fried in butter and then buried six feet under with a cement block tied to his arm to keep him from getting back out, perhaps even more than that when Tord started laughing.

"Oh my god!" he wiped a tear from his eye, "Thanks to your partner, you are down all of your points jehova!"

"I thought I told you-!"

"But the title suits you so well jovie!"

Tom got into Tord's face and snarled. Oh how he hated the norski, he was such a pest! The eight years he'd been gone were some of the best Tom could remember, even with the usual hijinks that followed Edd around. In Tom's opinion Tord had gotten even worse during his absence, Tom noticed subtle changes in Tord ever since he returned. His toxic green eyes were brighter and Tom even caught them shining when Tord was thinking or looking at something he particularly liked. He carried himself in a far more dignified manner, even when he was doing something silly such as sitting in a shopping cart like an overgrown child competing to see who would be paying for groceries that month. He was lithe and much more in shape than he'd been prior to leaving. His pants were far more form fitting, accentuating his hips nicely-

Edd pushed himself between Tom and Tord before they could get in a fist fight and smiled at Tom, Tom gulped.

"Tom, you and Matt lost fair and square, you two have to pay up." Edd lifted his head with a smug satisfaction and then turned to Tord, "Help me get this stuff into our cart-"

"Uh guys," Matt had been comparing the two lists after Tom's attention had left him, "we forgot the milk."

"I'll get it" Tom and Tord said at the same time, causing them to look at each other.

Tom's eyes lit up with brilliance, and he smirked.

"How about this commie, one last race, whoever can get the gallon milk-"

"Two gallons." Matt interrupted.

"Two gallons of milk first, gets off scott free while the loser has to split payment with Matt."

Tord didn't waste a moment and gave a toothy smirk back, his own eyes flashing eagerly.  
"Deal" he said.

Edd groaned and scrubbed his face, he felt like the two of them had become even more competitive and tense with eachother ever since Tord returned, maybe it was to make up for over 8 years of lost fights?

"Hey Edd! Start us off will you?" Tord called as he and Tom lined up.  
Edd came over with a sigh and held his hand up.

"On your marks, get set," Edd looked from Tom to Tord, both were determined to win this, "go!" Edd dropped his hand

Tom and Tord shot from the starting aisle, dodging customers and employees alike, they broke off at some point, Tord finding that the path through the frozen items would get him to the milk wall faster while Tom took the deli.

Frank set down a wet floor sign in front of the dairy aisle with a heavy sigh. Those boys made an absolute mess of the store and he'd be certain to ask for this day off each month from now on so he didn't have to deal with them ever again. He wiped his hands together and grabbed the mop cart, wheeling off to the next aisle that needed his attention.  
Not a moment later, Tord rounded the corner. He nearly fell on the wet slippery floor, but had managed to grab the cooler door handel and regain his balance. Shame the same couldn't be said for Tom, who thought that he could use the slippery floor to slide on by and shoulder check Tord out of the way as Tord opened the cooler door. Tom lost control of his momentum and barreled into Tord, knocking them both to the floor and sending the milk Tord had grabbed flying.

Tom groaned and rubbed his head with his free hand while the other propped him up. He shook his head to gather his bearings and expected the floor to greet him when he opened his eyes. Instead pitch black was met with bright toxic green, he'd toppled down right on top of Tord, who laid there wide eyed. Both boys stared at each oher speechlessly, neither making any move to get up. Tom's mind was racing, do something you moron! Don't just kneel there! Get up! Laugh at him! Call him a stupid Commie! A thought that somehow translated to-

"Your eyes are pretty!" Tom was mentally berating himself for his stupidity the moment the first syllable left his lips and Tord finally managed to snap out of it, but he wasn't sure he'd heard Tom right.  
"Wh-"

"Uh- pretty stupid!" Tom exclaimed before Tord could get a word in edgewise.

Tom tried to get up, but a mix of a panicked mind, a wet floor and getting up too fast caused him to slip and go right back down. This time he was entirely oh top of Tord. Tom felt a slightly cracked, but not unpleasant, pressure on his lips. Slowly he opened his eyes once more and was once more met with wide toxic green, but far closer. Then the horrifying realization hit him, that pressure on his lips, that was Tord's lips. Tom slowly pulled away, if his eyes went any wider a black hole was likely to open up. He was stammering, trying to make some kind of coherant sentance, an apology, something! Tord blinked and was looking at him funny, eyes shining.

Tom attempted to at least get off of him one last time, slower this time to avoid slipping back down, but suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around his neck and yanked him back down. Tord mashed his lips against Tom's trying to avoid clacking their teeth together. Tom flailed and tried to push up to no avail as each time he tried to pull away, Tord's grip tightened. Tom finally stopped fighting against Tord's arms for fear of being strangled to death and breathed through his nose as Tord tried to get him to open up, running his lips against Tom's, giving small pecks every now and then between long connections. Tom was being slowly worn down, the last straw was Tord's teeth gently taking hold of his lower lip and tugging slightly.

Tom returned Tord's kiss tenfold, adjusting himself so he was between Tord's legs rather than straddling him. While one of his hands kept him balanced, Tom's other hand held Tord's hip, pulling him closer. Tord's fingers tangled into Tom's hair as he pressed his tongue against Tord's mouth, demanding entrance, Tord gladly opened up for him with a sigh. They let themselves get lost, in each other, in the feeling of their lips and tongues, the world around them seemingly dissolved to nothingness and they were the only two left, the only two who mattered. Tom felt plesant sparks pop in his stomach with each press of their lips, each little sigh he'd managed to coax out of Tord. It should have been wrong, they hated eachother, but being in the other's arms felt so right to them.

After what seemed an eternity, Tom pulled away, his and Tord's mouth still connected by a thin string of saliva, he smirked at the sight of Tord. He was flush, breathing heavily, his eyes were half lidded and begged for Tom to kiss him again. Tom felt his chest swell in appreciation of his own handy work and bent his head to lavish Tord's neck with kisses. Tord gasped and whispered things Tom couldn't understand into his ear. It could have lasted forever, but all good things must come to an end at some point.

"Oh my god! What the hell are you two- I just cleaned this area!" Frank's outraged cry snapped them out of it and Tom immediately pulled away from Tord, scooting away and sitting on his butt. He looked around and realized that his and Tord's little 'show' had gained a small audience. A scandalized mother, covering her young daughter's eyes, a teen who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and was completely frozen in place with bright red cheeks and ears, and finally a woman trying to be subtle as she peeked from around a nearby aisle- Tom was pretty sure she had her phone out.

Tom coughed into his fist and carefully stood up, offering Tord his hand to help him. Tord wasn't responding though, still flat on the floor and even redder than before, most likely in embarassment. Tom forcibly grabbed his wrist and yanked Tord to his feet, grabbing two gallons of milk and shoving one into Tord's arms and hearding him back to the checkout as poor Frank agonized over what he had just walked in on and his poor floor covered in milk.

"Let us never speak of this again." Those were the first words out of Tord's mouth after several seconds of uncomfortable silence.  
"Agreed." Tom nodded.

Edd was not a happy camper when they returned Tom and Tord had taken far too long for his liking, and taking in their slightly dishevled apperance and the fact that they each had a gallon in hand, assumed that they had been fighting over the milk, gotten scolded heavily if that outcry that echoed through the entire store was anything to go by, and sent back in shame. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot. The boys in red and blue hung their heads and placed their milks in the cart.

"Matt, stop digging through your wallet. Tom and Tord, will be paying this month." Edd narrowed his eyes at the guilty party as Matt let out a whoop of joy.

Neither one of them objected to paying for the shopping, they just wanted to get it done, get home and forget today ever happened, but they would find today impossible to forget.

Each night after, Tord and Tom, whose original room had finally been drained, would lay awake and think about that day, speficically that kiss. Tord wondered what possesed him to initiate their makeout session at all, that first lock of lips had been accidental, but it had sparked something inside of Tord, something pleasant. He had wanted more of it, he still wanted more.  
Tom tossed and turned, trying to force himself asleep, to not think about that day for once. He didn't want to feel his stomach drop like it did on an exciting roller coster as his mind wandered to Tord, breathless and wanting underneath him. Tom curled up as he cycled through the memory, the accidental kiss, Tord's arms around his neck, his legs tangled with Tom's, those hushed words in his ear. What had he been saying? Tom especially didn't want to think about how right Tord's lips felt against his own, how much he wanted to feel Tord's chapped lips again, to see those eyes shine when looking at him.

"Stop!" Tom wailed to himself, shoving his pillow over his face. He couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't take these barely slept nights, the way that just thinking about Tord made his chest do funny things. Tom shoved the pillow to the side, screw the vow they made, he was going to get up, march on over to Tord's room and they were either going to talk and sort this bullshit out, or get right down to buisness and make that mistake once again, this time with no prying eyes. Tom's head shot up from his bed when he heard the closing and locking of his door.

Tord had been in the exact same boat, he couldn't take this anymore, it had been over two weeks since he'd gotten proper sleep, something had to be done. They stared at each other in the dark for several minutes, neither one speaking or making a single move. Finally, Tord was once again the initiator, taking several quick steps towards Tom's bed as Tom moved the sheets aside. Tord dove on top of him, caught by his hips. Once again their lips pressed together over and over. Tord spoke between kisses in a language Tom didn't understand and had no plans to learn, but a quick google search may prove helpful.

Here, in Tom's room, they were alone, they could take their time exploring eachother to their hearts content, and so they did.

Tom stared at Tord's sleeping frame pressed against him, his own eyelids were heavy. He had no idea what they were to each other now, what to call this. Was it love? Lust? Or something else entirely? All he knew was that he didn't want to let go of it, already addicted to the way it twisted his stomach in knots and lit a fire in his chest. Laying a kiss atop Tord's head he let himself drift off to sleep, they could talk and figure this, thing they had, out in the morning.


End file.
